Within the Hollow Crown (18 page)

Chapter 44: Homecoming

Michael received a hero’s welcome upon his return to Hartstone. A lot of things had gone wrong since the first day of summer, but the Count’s miraculous survival gave everyone a reason to be grateful.

Just inside the gate, dozens of Lords and Nobles waited, cheering as Michael stepped out of his carriage and waved to them. Sarah stepped forward to greet him.

“Michael,” she said, “It’s good to see you on your feet.”

“It’s good to be on my feet.”

“Come in, come in,” Sarah said, “Landos and I have a small feast waiting for you.”

“Good, because I haven’t eaten for a week.”

Michael took her hand, waving the procession into the Castle. Once the chatter of the crowd was loud enough, he leaned in close to Sarah, to whisper to her.

“Sarah,” he said, “Did you come out to the woods? Did you come and see me?”

Sarah blushed, “Yes.”

“I remember you being there.”

“Oh, you couldn’t possibly,” Sarah said. “You didn’t wake up for another two days.”

“No,” Michael said, “I remember you being there, but like from a dream. I remember hearing your voice.” Then he said, even more quietly, “I think I remember you crying.”

Sarah avoided Michael’s eyes.

“I was there. And, yes, I cried. You would have, too, if someone you loved
were so badly hurt. I wasn’t sure you were alive until I heard your heartbeat.”

Michael pulled her close.

“I remember you, when I was out there. I was cold and alone, and I heard your voice. And I’m telling you, I wouldn’t have made it out alive without you at my side.”

Sarah shied away, but Michael lifted her chin with his hand, leaning in for a kiss. Their first kiss since the wedding, ten days earlier. They lingered there, in the hall, for a private moment before proceeding into the Great Hall.

As they entered, hand in hand, Landos stood and raised a glass.

“His Grace, Count Michael Deliem!”

“Hoorah!” chorused the company. Glasses were raised and everyone took a drink.

“And Her Grace, Countess Sarah Deliem!”

Landos held his glass up high, staring right into Sarah’s eyes from across the banquet. Two hundred people in the room, but only the two of them understood what he was saying at that moment with his eyes.

“Hoorah!” the room echoed. Sarah didn’t know she was doing it, but her grip on Michael’s hand tightened. Like a vice. But the toast ended and the feast began, and she thought nothing more of it. For now.

Michael ended up digesting more news than food, as his system wasn’t prepared for mountains of salted meats and rich wines after a diet of Alderthorn’s herbs and roots. Landos and Calvin recalled everything that had happened since the Wedding, from the attack at the capital to the invading Turin. Gabriel was mostly silent, though he interjected when he thought Landos wasn’t making things sound bleak enough.

And then the messenger arrived.

“Can I help you?” Michael said.

“Yes, Your Grace, I have a message from Lord Endior.”

“Someone probably tried to sleep with his daughter again,” Gabriel grumbled.

“Well,” Michael said, “Let’s see it.”

The messenger handed the page to Calvin, who read it for the others:

“‘Your Grace, Count Michael Deliem, please be advised that the march from Hartstone to Anuen has been ambushed six miles south of Raingrove. All the men are dead. We will be returning the bodies of Prince Anthony and Prince Nathaniel to Hartstone, as it is closer. Please advise on further actions. Yours, Lord Endior.’”

The table sat in shock. The return of Count Michael couldn’t undo this bad news.

“Alright,” Michael said, “Dinner’s over. We have work to do.”

“They killed everyone?” Calvin said, more amazed than inquiring.

“It says, ‘All the men are dead,’” Michael said. “But there was no mention of Lady Vye.”

Chapter
45: Unforgotten Memories

It was an overcast afternoon when Vye woke. She was nauseous and dizzy, a feeling that reminded her of some weekends in her ill-advised youth. But, more importantly, she didn’t know where she was, how she had gotten there, and was only vaguely aware of who she was.

She hefted herself to her feet and stretched her muscles. She didn’t have much with her. She was wearing her armor, her sword was on the ground beside her, and there was a wool blanket covering her.

Wool blanket?

The words “wool” and “blanket” rang around her head in a desperate game of ping-pong. She didn’t own a wool blanket.
Even if she did, it wouldn’t be the third item she would have in the woods if she were only allowed to have
three items
.

Clues, thought Vye. She needed clues. So, she was in the woods. The Eliowode, from the looks of it. She wasn’t good enough at tracking to get any meaningful information from the ground. She lifted her sword up for a closer look. It was stained in blood. That felt like a clue to her. But she wasn’t sure what it meant.

There were footsteps behind her. Footsteps, she thought, might be clues, but in her state, clues weren’t allowed to have footsteps. Footsteps were too dangerous.

“Who goes there?” she called.

“It’s me,” said an accented voice.

“A little more specific, please,” Vye said.

“It’s Halmir.”

“Friend or Foe?”

“Vye, it’s me.”

“We’ve covered this already.”

“Vye,” Halmir said, stepping into the clearing, “Don’t you remember what happened last night?”

Vye got the wrong impression.

“Look,” Vye said, “Clearly I was drunk, because I usually don’t just... Wait a minute, you’re a Turin.”

“Yes.”

Something else important dawned on Vye, “And we never slept together.”

“It’s coming back to you.”

“Why couldn’t I remember anything just now?”

“We’re dealing with memory spells. You got confused. The fog in your mind will clear.”

“Is that going to keep happening?”

“It’ll get better, with practice.”

Vye slumped against a tree, catching her emotional breath.

“I can’t believe I broke you out. What possessed me?”

“Are you doubting your decision?”

Vye didn’t answer. Halmir knew he was walking on eggshells. But he had to get where he was going...

“Let me put it this way,” Halmir continued, “If you had not freed me, then most likely you and I would both be dead right now.”

“Well,” Vye shrugged, “When you put it that way...”

“We had no choice.”

“‘We?’” Vye snapped.

“You broke me out of
my cage. I betrayed my Master--” Vye shuddered at the thought of those fiery blue eyes-- “and killed one of my kin.”

“Why did you do it? Betray your Master?”

“I don’t know.”

“I need a better answer than that.”

“I don’t have one to give you.”

“Give me something.”

“Your laws...”

“Our laws? That’s why you betrayed your Master?”

“It is difficult to explain. I am thirty years old. For all of those thirty years, I have learned to hate the people of Rone. My Master taught us that you are all cruel and uncaring people. That you eat your young. That you boil people alive for sport. The tales of your barbarism are ingrained in us from an early age.”

Vye flushed with anger at the thought of these lies. But then something occurred to her.

“They tell us the same things about you,” she confessed.

“Once I was your prisoner... Of course you restrained me. Of course you jailed me. But you still allowed me some... dignity. I was not expecting that. I wasn’t prepared for you to have laws. To follow rules that said I couldn’t be tortured. I was amazed to learn you were going to have a trial. I didn’t think barbarians did such things.”

“We don’t,” Vye smirked, but Halmir wasn’t smirking back. He was dead serious about this confession. Turning his back on three decades of indoctrination wasn’t easy.

“It seemed so easy, when I departed m
y homeland on the first day of summer, it seemed like nothing to be a part of the Redemption of the Turin. I was prepared to decimate the Kingdom of Rone. To kill or enslave your entire population. But when I met you...”

And now Halmir finally blushed. Vye never imagined a Turin could blush through their dark skin. But there it was.

“What do we do now?” Vye asked.

“I am a traitor. I cannot go home,” Halmir muttered, perhaps realizing it for the first time himself. “What of your people? Would they take you back?”

“I hope so,” Vye said. “If I get a chance to explain everything. Will you come with me?”

“I don’t want to die,” Halmir admitted.

Vye paced about the clearing. They were playing with borrowed money at this point. The situation was desperate. Dire. But somehow, what she wanted more than anything was to make sure Halmir wasn’t killed.

“I wish I could promise you that you wouldn’t be killed,” Vye said. “But you murdered a dozen people, including the Prince.”

“I can help you,” Halmir pleaded. “You don’t know what you’re up against. My Master is more dangerous than anything you’ve faced before.”

“I can only promise you this,” Vye said, “Come back to Hartstone with me. I will advocate for you. I will explain to my Liege Lord that you intend to help. That I... trust you. And maybe that will be enough to stay your execution.”

“Maybe?”

“It’s all I can promise. That as long as I’m alive, you will not be alone.”

“In that case,” Halmir said, “I accept.”

Chapter 46: A Moot Point

Michael marched his senior staff off to Gabriel’s chambers. While there were many places to meet and discuss things in the Castle, Gabriel’s room had two advantages. One, it was far from the crowd. And two, there was so much noise from the furnace that eavesdropping was that much more difficult.

“It just never ends...” Landos lamented as he shut the door.

“At least Vye’s alive,” Michael commented.

“Very presumptuous,” Gabriel retorted.

“Lord Endior chooses his words carefully. He made a point of saying, ‘All the men.’ I think he was trying to indicate that Vye’s body wasn’t there. And yet, if the missive had been intercepted, the enemy wouldn’t know.”

“So, she’s alive,” Landos said. “We need to find her.”

“No,” Michael said. “She’s not a priority.”

“Michael,” Sarah said, “If she was there, she may know what happened.”

“She almost definitely knows what happened,” Michael said. “But we have bigger problems.”

“Your Grace--” Landos objected, but didn’t get further.

“He’s right,” Gabriel said, “With Prince Anthony dead, we now have no way of securing leadership of the Kingdom.”

“Brimford and Avonshire will tear each other to shreds,” Michael continued, “Unless...”

He was lost in a thought. It was a crazy thought. A thought that would cock a lot of brows. But maybe, just maybe...

“Is something wrong with the furnace?” Calvin asked.

“I don’t think so,” Gabriel grumbled. “Why do you ask?”

“It’s just there’s smoke coming out of the floor,” Calvin answered.

Everyone stared at the smoke. It was rising out of the floor, but not as though there was a fire. Just as though that particular stone had a candle hiding in it. It was also odd that the smoke dispersed very suddenly six feet into the air. It didn’t waver and disperse slowly, it formed the shape of a door...

A door of smoke...

“Guards!” Michael yelled, “Guards, in here now!”

Landos pulled Sarah behind him as Calvin and Gabriel drew arms. The Guards stormed in, surrounding the door of smoke.

“Is that--” Michael said.

“Yes.” Landos replied. “Calvin, take the Count and Countess to the carriages. Ride to Ralsean immediately. No delays, no questions. Go!”

“Landos!” Michael shouted, “I need to be here to handle this.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Landos said. “Without Vye here, we can’t handle the Turin.”

A Turin man ambled through the smoke. He was unarmed, but Gabriel held his sword to the man’s throat anyway.

“Go-go-go!” Landos shouted to Calvin.

But then Lady Vye stepped through the smoke and the door evaporated.

“Lady Vye?” Michael said.

“Your Grace,” Lady Vye answered. There were a lot of questions and answers, but Vye decided that even this situation called for common courtesy, “You’re feeling better?”

“No, Yes, well, physically. Who the hell is this?”

“Oh,” Vye said, looking over at her companion, “This is Halmir. He’s the one who assassinated Prince Nathaniel and stabbed you in the heart.”

Michael thought about this for a moment.

“Oh.”